LaTourette measure to help Great Lakes shippers passes
Monday, July 18, 2011
U.S. Rep. Steven C. LaTourette (R-OH) today announced that an
amendment he offered to help Great Lakes shippers was approved and
is now in the House spending bill that funds the EPA and Great
Lakes programs.
The LaTourette amendment prohibits states from receiving EPA
funding if they have adopted ballast water requirements that are
more stringent than federal requirements. The amendment was adopted
by voice vote, meaning no recorded vote was necessary. Ships
take in or discharge ballast water as they load or unload cargo to
maintain the ship's stability.
LaTourette said a hodgepodge of state ballast water standards
would cripple Great Lakes waterborne commerce, and was very pleased
that his amendment was successful.
LaTourette added a provision to the Interior and Environment
Appropriations bill prohibiting the EPA from sending any federal
funds to states that enact ballast water management
regulations that exceed existing International Maritime
Organization (IMO) guidelines and soon-to-be-announced U.S. Coast
Guard standards. The full House could vote on the measure as
early as next week.
The state of New York set up its own ballast water regulations
for existing ships that are 100 times more stringent than current
standards, and new ships will face standards 1,000 times more
strict, LaTourette said. The New York standard has been delayed
until 2013 because there is no technology currently available to
comply with the standards.
Great Lakes-Seaway News called the Congressman's efforts "a
stunning legislative and policy victory" and called New York's
ballast water regulations "scientifically unsupportable."
LaTourette said New York has concerns that invasive species will
be introduced by carriers traveling through the St. Lawrence
Seaway, which extends from Montreal to Lake Erie and provides a
link from the Atlantic Ocean to all the Great Lakes. The
discharge of ballast water from ships is already regulated by the
Coast Guard and EPA under federal law, and is intended to
limit the introduction of invasive species in the Great Lakes.
"If Great Lakes states have to comply with the New York
standard, ships would effectively be barred from using the St.
Lawrence Seaway and the economic impact would be crippling,"
LaTourette said. "If you've got a load of ore coming from the
East Coast and want to unload it at one of Ohio's many ports, you
have to travel through New York waters."
LaTourette, whose district includes working ports in Ashtabula,
Conneaut and Fairport Harbor, said his amendment protects the
economy of all Great Lakes states. Other Lake Erie ports in
Ohio include Cleveland, Lorain, Huron, Sandusky and Toledo.
The International Longshoremen's Association, which supported
LaTourette's efforts, believes there should be one standard, saying
varying state regulations would cause "catastrophic" economic
damage and could effectively "cut the United States off from
international and even domestic commerce, threatening hundreds of
thousands of jobs for American families."
LaTourette said the inconsistent, arbitrary state requirements
are "jeopardizing the transportation of more than 100 million tons
of steel, grain, coal, limestone, and other materials across the
Great Lakes, and the transportation of more than one billion
dollars of consumer goods into Great Lakes and St. Lawrence Seaway
ports."
"This cargo drives our region's electric power, steel,
automotive manufacturing, and construction industries. These
misguided state regulations are threatening to bring these
industries and our treaties with Canada to their knees," he
said.
The LaTourette provision says that states that adjoin the Great
Lakes cannot get EPA funds if they set ballast water standards that
exceed current federal or ISO rules. He said one standard
should apply to all states. Michigan and New York have set up
ballast water rules that exceed current standards.
"We should not reward states like New York with federal money
when they're jeopardizing the entire Great Lakes economy,"
LaTourette said.